Rights
group: Zimbabwe impunity fueling violence

JOHANNESBURG —
Every day in Zimbabwe, Tendai has to see the people who killed his parents
more than two years ago. They live in his neighborhood and have gone
unpunished.

James lives next door to one of the four people who beat his
parents to death in July 2008, at the height of state-sponsored election
violence in the southern African country.

Today, amid reports of
renewed attacks as Zimbabwe plans for elections, both men say they are
receiving death threats from their parents' killers.

"We now live in
perpetual fear," Tendai told New York-based Human Rights Watch, which
released a report Tuesday warning that the country faces a "crisis of
impunity" that has festered for decades and only encourages the killings,
torture and beatings that have been allowed to go unpunished. Police refuse
to act on complaints and judges are co-opted or threatened and attacked, the
report said.

Tiseke Kasambala, a senior researcher for the rights group,
told reporters the climate prohibited holding the elections sought by
President Robert Mugabe, the ruler for 31 years.

"If reforms are not
instituted, then we say that there must be no elections in Zimbabwe,"
Kasambala said.

She said the president of South Africa, landlocked
Zimbabwe's powerful neighbor, and other leaders in the Southern African
Development Community should make that clear to Mugabe, and strongly condemn
the renewed attacks and detentions.

Kasambala said the regional
body's reaction made them "look bad," especially when compared the firm
stand taken by the Economic Community of West African States in Ivory Coast,
which has declared an opposition leader the winner of disputed elections and
is demanding the incumbent step down.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is widely believed to have won 2008 elections against Mugabe. But
pressure from some Southern African leaders compelled him to form a
government of national unity with Mugabe, when international condemnation
failed to end an onslaught of state violence after the poll.

At the
time, Human Rights Watch documented cases showing Mugabe's government was
responsible "at the highest levels" for widespread and systematic abuses
that led to the killing of up to 200 people, the beating and torture of
5,000 more, and the displacement of about 36,000 people.

Tuesday's
report said government agencies including police, themselves implicated in
the attacks, have failed to investigate hundreds of legal complaints filed
by individuals, victims' families, rights groups and Tsvangirai's
party.

"It's a painful experience knowing that our neighbors who we see
every day were the perpetrators. I feel angry," said the report, quoting
Tendai who, like James, is not further identified for fear of reprisals.
"The perpetrators have made it clear at their rallies that at the next
elections they will do it again because they didn't get
arrested."

James' father was already dead when he found his parents'
bodies on June 25, 2008. But his mother clung to life long enough to
identify some of the soldiers, officials and supporters of President Robert
Mugabe's party who had attacked them. Police took her statement in the
hospital before she died, but nothing more has been done.

Violence
against opposition supporters, their families and areas known to have voted
against Mugabe has increased as the opposition picks up support. Mugabe has
ruled since 1980.

The most common form of torture is severe beatings on
the back, buttocks and soles of the feet until the skin is ripped off.
People have had electric shocks administered to their genitals at police
stations, and have been raped with broomsticks and other implements. False
executions also are common.

Officials in Tsvangirai's party say he
and government ministers repeatedly have called in vain for police to stop
political violence and arrest perpetrators.

As recently as Friday,
his party reported to police several youths who allegedly beat up supporters
in Harare last week, identifying them by name and an address where they
gather.

Instead, it said, police were "hostile" to the victims and
arrested some of them, forcing the others to go into hiding.

Human
Rights Watch criticized the former opposition party for prioritizing the
harmony of the delicate government over its push for justice. It criticized
Tsvangirai for putting reconciliation above justice in a September speech in
which he said a retributive agenda would be
counterproductive.

"Reconciliation is the only solution for the
country to have assured stability, peace and progress," said Tsvangirai, who
himself has been beaten up and tortured by Mugabe's thugs.

In
Washington last week, U.S-based Freedom Now condemned last year's arrests
and torture of 12 activists accused of trumped-up charges of treason. They
accused Tsvangirai of being "complicit" in the torture by remaining in the
coalition with Mugabe.

Human Rights Watch called for Zimbabwe's unity
government to respect its own constitution and international laws by setting
up an independent commission to investigate serious human rights abuses,
bring perpetrators to trial and ensure reparations for victims.

It
urged the Southern African Development Community to press Zimbabwe's
government on the issue. And it urged the European Union and the United
States to maintain targeted travel sanctions and asset freezes against
Mugabe's party and its leadership.

Zimbabwe
election report back in court

THE Presidency, in its appeal against the Supreme Court of Appeal
judgment which ordered it to hand over a report on the 2002 Zimbabwe
election to the Mail & Guardian newspaper, argues that sufficient
evidence was placed before the courts in justifying the refusal of access to
the report.

The case raises issues concerning the power of the president
to appoint judges as special envoys, his ability to seek information on a
confidential basis and the use of that data in promoting domestic and
southern African regional policy objectives.

The report in dispute,
which was commissioned by former president Thabo Mbeki , was prepared by
Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke and Constitutional Court Judge Sisi
Khampepe in 2002 before the Zimbabwe election. When the newspaper was
refused access to the report, it lodged an application in the North Gauteng
High Court for access to the report. In June, the high court ordered the
Presidency to give the report to the newspaper, and in December, the
Presidency failed in its appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

In
its written submissions to the Constitutional Court last week, the
Presidency said the Supreme Court of Appeal had rejected the evidence
tendered on the appointment of the justices and the evidence obtained and
furnished to the court regarding the justices’ interactions and the purpose
of their mission.

"We submit that the justices were not acting in
their personal or judicial capacities or as members of the South African
Observer Mission," the Presidency’s advocates Marumo Moerane SC and Leah
Gcabashe said.

They said support for this view was found in the
Constitutional Court judgment of the South African Association of Personal
Injury Lawyers vs Heath, where the court declined to "lay down rigid tests
for determining whether or not the performance of a particular function by a
judge is or is not compatible with the judicial office".

They said
there was no explicit or implicit prohibition on appointing members of other
branches of government as special envoys. "A definitive ruling from this
court on the matter would, however, be of great assistance in guiding the
president on the future appointment of special envoys."

Mr Moerane and Ms
Gcabashe said the appointment of the two justices as special envoys was not
incompatible with the judicial office that they held.

"Their qualities
are that they are independent, able to weigh up information and form an
opinion based on the evidence presented, and give a decision based on the
consideration of relevant evidence. The functions they discharged as special
envoys did not conflict with the central mission of the judiciary. It was a
temporary assignment that did not require the justices to be
partisan."

US warns Zimbabwe over Iran nuke cooperation

WASHINGTON (AP) — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama
administration warned Zimbabwe on Monday that it could face penalties if it
cooperates with Iran's nuclear program in violation of U.N.
resolutions.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. was
troubled by recent statements from Zimbabwe's foreign minister that United
Nations sanctions on Iran are unfair and hypocritical. He said Zimbabwe
would be violating its international obligations and U.N. Security Council
resolutions if it helped Iran extract uranium.

"We are concerned by
statements that would suggest that Zimbabwe would be open to cooperating
with Iran in ways that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions," he told
reporters.

"The foreign minister of Zimbabwe is entitled to his opinion
but the government of Zimbabwe is still bound by its commitments to the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and relevant U.N. Security Council
resolutions," Crowley said. "There are ramifications for countries that
decline to observe their international obligations."

He said the U.S.
did not have independent confirmation of such cooperation but was concerned
by statements indicating that Zimbabwe would be open to it. The U.N. atomic
watchdog said last month that Iran's foreign minister made a secret visit to
Zimbabwe in January in search of uranium.

Crowley said Iran's outreach to
Zimbabwe was part of the country's attempt "to escape its growing isolation
by offering to bolster trade and other economic ties with receptive
governments."

He noted that both Iran and Zimbabwe have been harshly
criticized for human rights abuses and quipped that "it would quite a match
for Zimbabwe and Iran to cooperate" on uranium mining.

The report came as an Iranian delegation led by
the head of the Cooperative Ministry Abbas Johari was meeting with
"agriculture and mining interests" in the Zimbabwean capital of
Harare.

Iran says it is enriching solely to power a future network of
nuclear reactors. But it has been targeted by U.N. sanctions because
enrichment can also create fissile warhead material — and because of its
nuclear secrecy and refusal to cooperate with IAEA probes into its
activities.

N
Korea begs food aid from Zimbabwe

NORTH Korea has resorted to begging for food from
another impoverished global pariah -- Zimbabwe.

A diplomatic source
in South Korea said Africa had become the focus of North Korea's aid
efforts, Seoul-based newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported yesterday. It has
previously been reported that North Korea instructed its 40 foreign
embassies to request food aid. The US and Britain have confirmed requests
from Pyongyang for assistance.

"Now they are begging for food even
from the world's poorest countries in Africa such as Zimbabwe, where annual
per-capita income is only around $US200 ($197)," the source said.

The
North's efforts to grow enough food to feed its populace have been hampered
recently by a cold snap and the spread of foot-and-mouth disease from South
Korea, which is likely to require culling of livestock.

UN teams have
been assessing the state of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Despite these
problems, food production in the impoverished country increased last year,
South Korea's foreign minister said last week, citing a report by UN food
agencies. Kim Sung-hwan said Pyongyang nevertheless stepped up calls for
international aid amid shortages caused by mismanagement of the
state-directed economy and excessive military spending.

Seoul once gave
an annual 400,000 tonnes of rice to its neighbour but this ended in 2008 as
relations worsened. International irritation at the communist country's
nuclear and missile programs has led to a drop in donations to UN food
programs.

The US special representative for North Korea policy, Stephen
Bosworth, said last week Washington was assessing the case for a resumption
in food aid but stressed the need for monitoring to ensure distribution
transparency.

Zimbabwe
clinches US$500m Chinese cotton deal

Harare, Zimbabwe - China and
Zimbabwe have struck a US$500 million cotton production and export deal,
officials said Monday. Under the agreement, China Development Bank will
advance the funds to a Chinese firm, Sinotex to finance cotton production in
Zimbabwe through its venture with a local company. The Zimbabwean company,
Cotton Company of Zimbabwe, is the largest cotton buyer in the country and
has an out-grower scheme supporting more than 200,000 farmers.

With
the bank loan, Sinotex and the Cotton Company of Zimbabwe hope to increase
the out-grower scheme by 100,000 new farmers, and expand technical and input
support to the growers.

Under the deal, Sinotex will then buy the entire
contracted cotton output from farmers, via the Cotton Company of
Zimbabwe.

It is by far the biggest agricultural export deal Zimbabwe has
clinched, and is expected to rival tobacco earnings, the country's top farm
export earner.

The Chinese firm requires around 800,000 tonnes of cotton
lint a year, six times more than Zimbabwe's current national
output.

Officials said the deal, which also provides a ready market in
addition to financing, will spur production in the country, which produces
some of the finest cotton in the world.

A combination of lack of
financing and market had weighed down Zimbabwe's cotton production in recent
years, with farmers switching to tobacco which was better paying.

ZANU
PF in ‘panic mode’ over MDC restructuring exercise

ZANU PF has been caught flat-footed by major
inroads made by the MDC-T in its former strongholds, a senior party official
said on Tuesday.

Morgan Komichi, the MDC-T deputy organising secretary,
told SW Radio Africa that the former ruling party’s response to this was to
ban all political gatherings. Analysts say it was an attempt by ZANU PF to
protect Robert Mugabe from any possible North African style anti-government
revolts.

‘Don’t be fooled that they stopped political meetings because
they fearedpeople would revolt against the government like what happened in
Egypt or Tunisia.

‘They are using this as an excuse because they’ve
been stunned at the level of inroads made by the MDC in the three
Mashonaland provinces and others around the country,’ Komichi
said.

The ban extended to meetings held in offices and homes.

‘If
citizens of a country are serious about revolting against their government,
do they do it inside their offices or homes? Unless if our eyes deceived us,
I thought what we saw in North Africa were people out in the streets
protesting and not doing it from their homes or offices.

‘ZANU PF has
witnessed the MDC come up with structures deep in Muzarabani (Mashonaland
Central) and Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (Mashonaland East) and they are worried
about that. These were their so- called strongholds, but not any more and it
has got them running around like headless chickens,’ Komichi
added.

The deputy organising secretary said the ban had stopped some
districts from completing their restructuring exercises ahead of their party
congress in May.

‘The ban had a negative effect on some of our
activities in some districts but I’m happy to say, there was determination
from all our officials and activists that the illegal ban would not deter
the party from forging ahead with its resolve to restructure the party from
ward to provincial level,’

It was reported that on Monday Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe discussed the issue and agreed to have the ban
on MDC-T rallies lifted. Luke Tamborinyoka, the Prime Minister’s
spokesperson, confirmed that the two leaders met and had agreed that all
meetings should be allowed to go ahead without police blocking
them.

‘We’ve been told Mugabe has agreed to lift the ban but we will only
know this week when most districts meet to finish the job. If they are not
stopped, then we know for sure the ban is lifted because with ZANU PF they
always indicate to turn right but go left instead,’ Komichi said.

Zanu (PF)
Door-To-Door Registration Sparks Fear

Masvingo, March 08, 2011 – Masvingo residents said they were
living in fear as Zanu (PF) youths and war veterans were moving door-to-door
registering all people above 18 years and forcing them to attend
meetings.

The war veterans and youths who are moving around clad in Zanu
(PF) regalia are demanding to know residents’ national registration numbers,
occupation, age and marital status.

After taking the personal
details, residents are then told of their respective meeting venues where
they are supposed to appear at least once a week.

Asked to comment
Zanu (PF) Masvingo provincial chairman Lovemore Matuke said: “Why do you
want my comment? Ask those who are collecting the details in the streets –
they know what they are doing and why.”

However, residents interviewed
described the exercise as victimisation.

“This is the start of
victimisation. Our personal information will be used to victimise us very
soon. We had no option besides giving them our details because we were not
sure of what they were going to do to us if we had refused.

“We are
now living in fear because they now have our residential addresses and they
also know where we work. They can come hard on us anytime they wish,” said
Trymore Jangara of Mucheke D.

Mucheke residents are being ordered to
report at Vurombo Primary School every Sunday for star rallies while those
who live in Old Mucheke are supposed to go to Chiefs’ Hall for similar
meetings every Sunday. Those who live in places such as Sisk and Pangolin
will meet their commanders in Mamutse stadium every weekend.

Although
the actual penalty for not attending the rallies is not known, residents
said they were afraid of possible torture.

“Why do they force us to be
part of them? We are afraid of torture if we refuse to abide by their
orders,” said another resident.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)
provincial chairman Wilstauff Sitemere said the move by Zanu (PF) to
‘bulldoze itself in to the people was old-fashioned and
regrettable’.

“Our people are being victimised every day. Why are they
bulldozing themselves in the people? We see they have started to victimise
innocent Zimbabweans,” said Sitemere.

Sitimere said there was nothing
much he could do to help since the police have now become
partisan.

Meanwhile MDC-T senator for Gutu, Empire Makamure, claims
police details stormed his house at 1 am over the weekend, demanding to
search for criminals.

Makamure, who had his car torched by suspected
Zanu (PF) PF thugs in 2008, said the three uniformed police details knocked
at his gate in Gutu Mupandawana growth point accusing him of harbouring
criminals.

“I was asleep when I heard loud knocks on my gate. When I went
out to investigate, I was shocked when the police details said I was housing
criminals, something which is false. I refused to open, and they
left.

“When I went to Gutu police station at sunrise, I was told that the
police had made a mistake as they were looking for a robbery
suspect.

"They said they intended to search my neighbour, not me. What
incensed me was that they did not even apologise when they told me it was a
mistake,” said Makamure.

RBZ
governor in ‘no show’ at parliamentary committee

Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, was
a no-show Monday, after he had been called to explain to parliament why
government has taken over the Shabani Mashaba Mines (SMM) from businessman
Mutumwa Mawere.

Last week Gono and the secretary for Home Affairs, Melusi
Matshiya, were summoned to appear before the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Mines and Energy to explain issues relating to the
specification of Mawere’s Zvishavane based asbestos company.

SW Radio
Africa was told that last week Gono informed the committee he would be busy
with the Euro money conference in Harare, and would only be free to attend
the hearing next week.The government accused Mawere of externalizing funds
and gave this as the reason for taking over his companies.

But in
Gono’s absence, the secretary for Home Affairs Melusi Matshiya was able to
absolve Mawere of any wrong doing at SMM. Reports in the media said Matshiya
told the chairman of the committee, Edward Chindori-Chininga (ZANU MP for
Guruve South) that Mawere did not externalise any foreign
currency.

Newsday reported Tuesday that the Ministry of Home Affairs
carried out its own investigations and failed to connect Mawere to any
criminal charges brought before the state. This led to the despecification
of Mawere by the government.

Despite this, SMM continues to be under
the Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act, administered
by Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, headed by Patrick
Chinamasa.

Last month SMM workers, who have gone for two years without
salaries under this government control, asked Robert Mugabe to intervene,
accusing management of not being sensitive to their plight.

The
workers told a public hearing by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Mines and Energy in Zvishavane, that their children are being chased away
from school as they were unable to pay school fees.

“We did not have any
problems today. We were able to carry out our duty under police guard for
fear that our marshals could be attacked,” said Dewa.

He said the firm
had also opened their offices and there was no incident, after what happened
yesterday.

Dewa said his organisation was willing to discuss with Upfumi
Kuvadiki, Zanu PF youths advocating for inclusion in the empowerment drive
being undertaken by their party.

He said the company was carrying out
legitimate business approved by the city council.

Police Spokesperson
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena confirmed that the police were
guarding EasiPark Premises and their employees as they want to keep law and
order in the city.

“We are working with the Easipark and we did not have
any problems today because yesterday we warned the youths to desist from any
violence takeover of the firm but to follow the law so, today, we did not
arrest anyone as they did not cause any trouble,’’ said
Bvudzijena.

Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda was adamant council was not
going to recognise the takeover of EasiPark by the youths and is going to
meet them on Thursday to discuss the matter.

“We do not recognise
what they did, so we shall be meeting them to inform them the council
position on the matter on Thursday,’’ said Masunda.

Zanu PF youths on
Monday grabbed EasiPark from a South African company, EasiHold, contracted
by Harare City Council to manage car parks in the capital.

INTERNATIONAL WOMENS' DAY

Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) Press statement

Today is international Women's Day and our three colleagues, Eneles
Dube, Janet Dube and Selina Dube, arrested at the 7 March Women's Day protest
remain in custody for a second night. The Lawyer attending the case, Lizwe
Jamela was himself arrested this morning so could not attend our members until
they were released. As of close of business today, Law and Order officers
admitted to Mr Jamela that as a result of the release of the previous 4
colleagues without charge, they cannot prosecutor this matter and had refused to
accept the case and returned it to the arresting department. The head of this
department could not take a decision and passed the docket to the Officer
Commanding Bulawayo District requesting instruction on how to proceed.

Meanwhile our 3 colleagues remain in the hellhole that is Bulawayo
central police station. There is no flushing toilets; no food and we have to
bring food in to every meal and risk theft of this food by officers; no
blankets; no access to medication by those on anti retrovirals; no access to
water; filthy cells and harassment by police officers. They have not had the
right to see a lawyer.

The arrests saga seems to have become difficult
to follow so we provide herewith a recap of the arbitrary arrests since 28
February 2011.

28 February 2011 - Three men, Gift Nkomo, Proud Pandeya,
Noah Mapfuma of Entumbane suburb in Bulawayo are arrested, tortured and held for
48 hours before being arraigned with $50 each bail and surrendering of travel
documents. They are reporting to the Law and Order Department of Bulawayo
Central Police station twice a week and will reappear in court on 16 March 2011.
Charged under C/S 37 (1) (a) (i) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act
Chapter 9:23: "Acting together with one or more other persons with him/her in
any place realizing that there is a real risk or possibility of disturbing
peace, security or order of the public".

28 February 2011 - the
afternoon of the same day, another 4 arrested. The 3 women and one man -
Sitshiyiwe Ngwenya, Joyce Ndebele, Moreblessing Dube, Kholwani Ndlovu of
Mabutweni Suburb in Bulawayo are held for 48 hours and tortured before being
arraigned with $50 each bail and surrendering of travel documents. They are
reporting to the Law and Order Department of Bulawayo Central Police station
twice a week and will reappear in court on 16 March 2011. Charged under C/S 37
(1) (a) (i) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23:
"Acting together with one or more other persons with him/her in any place
realizing that there is a real risk or possibility of disturbing peace, security
or order of the public".

1st March 2011 - Fourteen women from Mabutweni
Suburb of Bulawayo are arrested late afternoon at a burial society meeting - 4
WOZA members, rest members of the public. Released late the same night without
charge.

4 March 2011 - Another 4 women from Pumula in Bulawayo are
arrested. They are Glory Ncube, Nomsa Sibanda, Monica Shema and Beatrice
Ngwenya. After 48 hours and a solidarity protest by WOZA members, they are
released as the state refused to prosecute the four. They had been tortured and
Monica had money stolen from her by arresting police officers.

7 March
2011 - Three women, Eneles Dube, Janet Dube and Selina Dube, part of the
peaceful protest are arrested by Riot Police and taken to Bulawayo Central
Police station. They are hidden away from lawyer's access until they manage to
get a phone call home to ask for food. The remain in custody for a second night
despite the fact that the Law and order department of the police responsible for
this kind of case do not wish to process them for court as a result of the
previous four released without charge. They await district commissioner's
further instruction. These three women seem not to have been tortured but access
to them has been limited to verify this.

At this time we ask members of
the public for solidarity in the form of phone calls to Bulawayo Central Police
station calling for the release of these activists. Please call +263 9 72515 and
ask for the 'DISPOL' who is the Officer Commanding Bulawayo District. If you
fail ask for Detective Sergeant George Levison Ngwenya and ask him to change his
violent ways.

ZCTU
women protestors ordered to strip by male police

Three women who participated in a Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) protest march were forced to strip off their clothes in the
city centre of Bulawayo by the police, their regional leader has said. One
of the three is heavily pregnant.

The women were part of a march to
commemorate International Women’s Day, which saw a total of 34 members of
the group arrested, despite a High Court order saying the march could
go-ahead.Barbara Tanyanyiwa of the ZCTU’s Regional Women’s Advisory Council,
said trouble began when the police appeared and began dispersing them, and
then three of their members were apprehended. “When they were going to the
gathering point, that is Jason Moyo and Third Avenue, they were confronted
by plain clothes policemen who said they should remove their ZCTU
t-shirts.

From there they were told to disperse and go home,” Tanyanyiwa
explained.

She said the women were left half-naked in their bras and
sympathisers had to give them wrapping clothes and blouses to cover-up. But
instead of letting them go home, the three women were then taken to the
police station. Tanyanyiwa says the police arrested 34 of their members
between the morning and afternoon. She says the police insist that they are
following orders ‘from above’ which state that protests or marches are
banned in the country. The women were all later released, after their lawyer
intervened.

SW Radio Africa Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme says
the three women felt deeply humiliated as they were ordered to remove their
t shirts by young male police officers.

On Monday in Bulawayo, Women
and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) ploughed ahead with their International
Women’s Day march, protesting against the torture of members by the police
and calling on South African President Jacob Zuma to help end the
violence.

As WOZA continues to publicly denounce the violence in the
country perpetrated by ZANU PF supporters and the partisan authorities,
their members have been increasingly arrested and tortured by police.
Recently a member was beaten up so badly that she could not hold her
baby.

WOZA had five separate protests on Monday, which began from
locations surrounding the High Court. Two of the protests managed to reach
the 8th Avenue Court, but three protests were dispersed by riot police and
army. With a heavy police and army presence in the city, WOZA says it
leaders decided to reduce the protest to the bravest of the brave, numbering
500 female and male members.

“Three women have been arrested but have
not been located at the police station by human rights lawyers. WOZA is
concerned for their safety as police are hiding them. The three are Eneles
Dube, Janet Dube and Selina Dube,” a WOZA statement said. On Tuesday the
women were still being held.

Elsewhere on Monday three leaders of the
Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) who were arrested last week, were formally
charged with treason, which attracts the death penalty. Paul Siwela, John
Gazi and Charles Thomas are being accused of distributing flyers urging
people to stage anti-government revolts like in Egypt and Tunisia. They are
accused of holding a meeting where they allegedly discussed overthrowing the
government.

The charges against the trio come at a time when
International Socialist Organisation (ISO) coordinator Munyaradzi Gwisai and
five other activists have also been charged with treason, after watching a
video of the Egypt uprising. The six were denied bail on Monday, despite
local and global outrage at their arrest and severe torture while in prison.
They were further remanded to March 21.

• Domestic violence against women, especially
wife beating, is common and crosses all racial and economic lines.

• In Zimbabwe, domestic violence accounts for
more than 60% of murder cases that go through the high court in Harare.
(ZWRCN)

• 54 percent of the women counseled for domestic
violence have sexually transmitted diseases, including many with
HIV/AIDS.

• Over 80% of the Zimbabwean population lives in
poverty

• Unemployment is estimated at 93%

• One in three working women at all levels are
reported to be subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace, as defined by
Zimbabwean legal experts.

• Although labour legislation prohibits
discrimination in employment on the basis of gender, women are concentrated in
the lower echelons of the work force and commonly face sexual harassment in the
workplace.

• The literacy rate in Zimbabwe is high, with a
total adult literacy rate of 90%, and 86% among women. This is a 10% increase in
women’s literacy since 1990, although this improvement is gravely threatened by
the rise in poverty and internal political upheaval.

• Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is
widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical
and psychological health, rarely is performed in Zimbabwe. However, according to
press reports, the initiation rites practiced by the small Remba ethnic group in
Midlands Province include infibulation, the most extreme form of FGM.

Given the current crisis in Zimbabwe, many of
the statistics have deteriorated since they were compiled.

This entry was
posted by Sokwanele on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 3:34
pm

Remembering
Elizabeth Madangure…

Since Zimbabwe gained its Independence 30 years ago
only one woman candidate has contested in the Presidential elections despite
women being more than 50% population in the country. When this elderly woman
from the high density of Glen Norah announced that she would compete in the
2002 Presidential election, nobody took her seriously, including some
women’s organisations that advocate for women empowerment.

But only
if we had listened and understood her election manifesto. People thought she
was mad and ignored her prophecy when she said that we must surrender our
‘sovereignty’ and start using the United State dollars because our Zimbabwe
dollar currency had gone to the dogs, and we had nothing to be proud of as
the inflation had started free-falling. By that time it would take 30
million Zimbabwe dollars to buy $1US on the black market and most analyst
were saying Zimbabwe would not recover without financial and international
assistance, in particular to stabilize the Zimbabwe dollar which was losing
value every hour.

Elizabeth Madangure would appear on National Television
and State media, urging people to vote for her so that she can implement her
strategy, like it will cost less 20c bus fare to go to town using public
transport and urging the electorate to give her the chance to run the
country. But we all laughed her off as an old woman who had nothing to do
other than makes us laugh and forget our predicament. Four years later the
then sitting government had had enough of the Zimbabwe dollar and stole
Madangure’s plan and surrender our sovereignty and we now have a high
sounding terminology which denotes our poor state multi currency without
even acknowledging her as the person who had the idea first.

In 2002
elections, Elizabeth Madangure competed alongside five male candidates. I
don’t remember her having any support from the women’s groups, neither do I
remember anyone encouraging the government to buy her noble
idea.

This entry was posted by Bob Gondo on Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
at 5:56 pm

ZIM EUROMONEY CONFERENCE

300
Business Tycoons Gather for Investment Conference

Harare, March 08, 2011 - More than 300 business executives
from South Africa, London and the United states of America (US) are gathered
in Harare for a one-day investment conference organised by Euro money
Conferences in London.

Zimbabwe to
use diamond cash to repay debt-PM

HARARE, March 8 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe will use revenue from diamond sales to repay part of its external
debt totalling $7.1 billion, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on
Tuesday.

Tsvangirai also sought to reassure investors over calls by
President Robert Mugabe, his political adversary, for elections this year,
making clear reforms agreed in their power-sharing agreement would be
carried out first.

"President Robert Mugabe, the region and I have agreed
to follow the Global Political Agreement (GPA) process to ensure a credible
poll," Tsvangirai told an investment conference.

"There is no anxiety
among Zimbabweans and investors about being ambushed with an election that
has no pre-conditions and not in line with the dictates of the GPA," he
said.

Under the pact that was the basis for Mugabe's ZANU-PF and
Tsvangirai's MDC party forming a power-sharing government in 2009, Zimbabwe
must free the media, draft a new constitution and hold elections within two
years. But the process is running months behind schedule and elections are
now expected in 2012.

Mugabe has been trying to boost the economy by
winning approval for diamond sales through the Kimberly Process, a world
monitor of the diamond trade intended to outlaw trafficking in so-called
conflict diamonds.

"The government has so far sold diamonds worth $300
million, and the money will be used to service the debt and also to
rehabilitate Zimbabwe's faltering industry," Tsvangirai
said.

Zimbabwe was $1.3 billion in arrears on money owed to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and African Development Bank
as of last July. It plans to seek relief for 68 percent of its debt from
foreign lenders and pay the remainder using proceeds from minerals such as
diamonds and platinum.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti told the same
conference: "The resolution of the debt is crucial for us to be integrated
in the international community and also the resolution of our political
problem."

The government has set up a debt management office which has
started talks with foreign lenders on debt repayment and
relief.

Rights groups have accused Zimbabwe's military of widespread
atrocities in the diamond fields in 2008 as Mugabe's previous government
moved to stop thousands of illegal miners on the poorly secured fields in
the east of the country.

Mugabe has accused Western countries of
working to stop Zimbabwe from benefiting from its mineral
resources.

Mugabe has worried foreign investors in recent months by
calling for an early poll and repeating threats to take over foreign firms
based in countries that have imposed sanctions on him and his ZANU-PF for
suspected human rights abuses. The MDC has warned that early elections could
cause economic chaos.

Opening a conference in
Harare meant to lure foreign investors to Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai said that he
and long-ruling President Robert Mugabe agreed on the need "to ensure a
credible poll".

"There is no need for anxiety among both Zimbabweans and
investors about being ambushed with an election that has no pre-conditions,"
he said.

Zimbabwe's devastated economy has shown signs of recovery since
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government to end deadly
political violence sparked by a presidential run-off election in
2008.

Uncertainty over new elections tipped for this year has spooked new
investors, who also worry about Mugabe's threats to take over foreign
firms.

Tsvangirai told the hundreds of executives at the conference that
new equity laws requiring Zimbabwe nationals to hold majority stakes in
major foreign companies to did not mean nationalisation.

"The
indigenisation programme has caused so much consternation among investors,"
Tsvangirai said.

"There is no government policy to nationalise or to
expropriate. All we want is that ordinary Zimbabweans should be empowered
and not a few elite."

But last week Mugabe warned that Western companies
from countries that have imposed sanctions on him and his allies would be
seized or expelled if they did not openly denounce the sanctions.

The
conference, which drew many firms from neighbouring South Africa and former
colonial power Britain, wraps up Wednesday.

Unity
Government Hopes To Rebrand Zimbabwe at Euromoney Conference

The
conference will examine topics ranging from the controversial indigenization
program being pushed by Mr. Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party to the longer-term
opportunities for investors notwithstanding political challenges and risks
evident today

Gibbs Dube | Washington 07 March
2011

Zimbabwean President Robert Mubabe and his two fellow principals
in the country's fractious government of national unity are expected to
reassure international investors at a two-day Euromoney conference organized
this week in Harare, the capital.

The conference will examine topics
ranging from the controversial indigenization program being pushed by Mr.
Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party to the longer-term opportunities for investors
notwithstanding political challenges and risks evident
today.

Government officials said Zimbabwe needs Euromoney’s endorsement
as a destination for global capital. President Mugabe will open the summit
which will also be addressed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Harare economist John Robertson said
the conference will give Zimbabwean authorities an opportunity to explain
recent radical utterances on seizing foreign-owned companies.

“Most
of the statements from government will be efforts to pacify the concerns of
investors that have been badly disturbed by some sections of the unity
government calling for the nationalization of private companies,” said
Robertson.

Indigenization or black empowerment is a cornerstone of
Mr. Mugabe expected bid for re-election this year or next, and his ZANU-PF
party has aggressively pushed the notion that majority control of large
enterprises, especially those owned by foreigners, should shift to
indigenous - black - Zimbabweans through uncertain mechanisms.

Prime
Minister Tsvangirai has not opposed indigenization in principal but has
warned that threatening to expropriate assets is not likely to induce
inflows of capital.

Govt
tries to lure investment despite mounting violence

The unity government is this week once again trying to lure
international investment into Zimbabwe, despite mounting violence across the
country and fears of worse to come.

The three principals in the
coalition government, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara,
on Tuesday launched a two day investment conference in Harare. The
conference, aimed at reassuring potential investors that Zimbabwe is a safe
investment haven, comes as Mugabe’s ZANU PF party has in recent weeks
intensified their violent campaign against perceived MDC supporters and
increased its threats to seize international companies.

The ZANU PF
onslaught has resulted in scores of mainly MDC supporters being detained and
tortured in prison on trumped up charges. This includes human rights
activist Munyaradzi Gwisai who, along with others, is facing treason charges
after watching footage of recent civil uprisings in North Africa. At the
same time, the police continue to arbitrarily arrest other activists and MDC
supporters, while ignoring abuses and crimes committed by ZANU PF.

There
are also warnings that the worst is still to come as ZANU PF’s election
campaign moves into high gear. Already in rural areas there are reports that
the youth militias are being armed and along with war vets have been
marshalled to intimidate villagers ahead of a possible election this year.
Manicaland province has so far been the worst affected area, with armed war
vets and militia groups threatening villagers, looting property and
destroying homes. Hundreds of Nyanga residents have fled the area into
Mozambique to escape the marauding gangs.

Despite all of this, the
investment conference got underway on Tuesday with no mention of the
worsening violence and harassment. About 300 business tycoons gathered for
the conference, which was officially opened by Prime Minister Tsvangirai,
who only referred to the violence as making it “difficult for those of us
who were working towards normalisation of relations (with the
West).”

“It is difficult to convince the world that you have turned the
corner when others are perpetuating the same culture of violence in the
countryside; the same culture and behaviour that brought us where we are,”
Tsvangirai said.

The investment conference also comes in the wake of
comments made by Mugabe, who has threatened to seize total control of
American and European businesses, in retaliation for the Western imposed
targeted ‘sanctions’ against him and his regime. The comments fall in line
with his party’s indiginisation plans, which have become the centre of ZANU
PF’s election campaign strategy.

The controversial plan will see more
than 50% of foreign owned firms taken over, policies which economic analyst
John Robertson said must be abandoned. Speaking to SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday Robertson said that such policies are “driving people
away.”

“These policies are basically repugnant to investors who are not
willing to come into Zimbabwe and see half of their investment confiscated
from them,” Robertson said.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Tuesday
tried to convince conference delegates that the indiginisation plans were
not a threat. He said the Indiginisation and Empowerment Act won’t lead to
companies being expropriated or to nationalisation.

“There’s nothing
wrong with the law on indiginisation,” Biti is quoted as saying. “It doesn’t
say there’ll be nationalisation. It’s not a law which allows expropriation.
We will respect our laws.”

It is widely expected that Mugabe will use the
conference to clarify his stance on indiginisation, possibly to make the
plan seem less threatening. But Robertson said these efforts and other
attempts to soften the indiginisation blow “will make no difference to the
inclination of investors.”

“The policies are not appropriate to the
needs of investors. Even if they got some kind of clarification, the policy
in itself is not a policy we need in Zimbabwe today,” Robertson said.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE PRIME
MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZIMBABWE, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE M.R. TSVANGIRAI AT
THE EURO MONEY INVESTMENT CONFERENCE,

HARARE 8-9 MARCH 2011

Deputy Prime Ministers
Professor Mutambara and Hon Khupe

Government ministers here
present

Your Worship, the Mayor of
Harare, Mr.M. Masunda

Senior Government
Offcials

Distinguished Guests and
Invited Dignitaries

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to extend my
appreciation to the Euro Money Conference organisers, the Minister of Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion and the Minister of Finance in organising this
Conference and inviting us to be part of the proceedings.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this
conference is happening against a background of renewed economic confidence and
revival as indicated by the increasing number of business and foreign
delegations that are visiting the country to explore business opportunities. The
recent visits by the Chinese and German delegations are a case in
point.

I am informed that the
objective of the Zimbabwe Investment Conference is to expose to the
international investment community and local business people the vast investment
opportunities that exist in our country and the reforms that have been enacted
to improve the doing business environment.

Investment has a significant
impact on economic growth. East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and
Singapore registered sustained economic growth rates largely due to substantial
foreign investment flows.

Zimbabwe can attain the same levels of growth if we put in place
competitive policies to attract investment and we are globally compliant in the
manner that we conduct business.

As a nation we cannot do it
alone but we should put in place best international practices which bode well
for attracting foreign direct investment.

This is the stark reality in
view of the fact that FDI tends to be timid – it goes where it is needed and
welcomed most. Very good foreign relations make an economic turnaround easier
and quicker than a do-it-alone approach.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the
formation of the inclusive government gave us the much needed political
stability to bring back business confidence and investor interest in the
country. It is important at a political level to support business by creating
and introducing reforms that are essential for the growth of this
country.

So much has been said of the
abundant natural resources that our country is bestowed with as well as its hard
working citizens. Unfortunately this has not translated into desired levels of
economic growth and investment inflows largely due to policy inconsistencies and
unpredictability.

Zimbabwe’s diamond wealth could translate to billions of dollars
per year if this valuable asset is exploited transparently in line with regional
best practices.

So far, about $300 million
worth of diamonds has been sold and as a government, and in pursuit of
transparency, we have asked the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Mines to
reconcile their figures and come clean on the proceeds arising from the sale of
these national resources.

I strongly believe that this
could go a long way in solving our liquidity crisis, clearing part of our
external debt of around US$7 billion and inducing increased capacity utilisation
in the manufacturing sector amongst a host of other economic challanges that
exist.

I therefore call on all of us
to work in unison in our policy formulation strategies. Otherwise the glaring
policy inconsistencies and mixed messages from the inclusive government will
turn investors away or they will simply adopt a wait-and-see attitude when in
fact time is not on our side.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad
to note that there has been a marked improvement in the doing business
environment in Zimbabwe with the launch of the One Stop Shop Investment Centre
by the Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion in December last
year.

This launch marked a giant step
towards realising our shared vision of continually reforming the investment
climate for the benefit of the would-be investor as well as keeping pace with
international best practice.

On our part, we need to make
sure that we consolidate the good things we have done so far to make ourselves
an attractive investment destination. It behoves upon us to ensure that Zimbabwe
is peaceful and free from violence; that we maintain peace and stability; that
we respect the rule of law and that we respect and honour the BIPPAS we have
signed.

A peaceful country without
violence and without policy inconsistencies is a natural destination for
investment. We will strive to ensure that our beloved country remains a firm
favourite for serious investors so that we can create jobs and prosper the
nation and its people.

During my recent visit to Davos
for the World Economic Forum, I attended a session on Mines and minerals chaired
by the esteemed chairperson of Anglo American plc, Cynthia Carroll. I was keen
to find out what factors they considered before making multi-million dollar
investments.

She told me that they
considered political stability and policy predictability as key determinants
ahead of any investment decision.

I think that there has been
some movement in the restoration of political stability since the formation of
the inclusive government in 2009. But over the last six months, there has been a
lot of mixed messages and hype arising out of misplaced election talk.

I want to assure you that we
will ensure that before we hold that election, there is a clear roadmap with
clearly defined benchmarks to ensure a free and fair election.

I am glad that the President,
the region and I, are all agreed that we have to follow the GPA processes to
ensure a credible poll. This means there is no need for anxiety among both
Zimbabweans and investors about being ambushed with an election that has no
preconditions and that is not in line with the dictates of the GPA.

On policy predictability, we
have said that we should not criminalise investment. The Indigenisation
programme has caused so much consternation amongst investors. But there is no
government policy to nationalise or to expropriate.

All we want is that ordinary
Zimbabweans should be empowered and not a few elite. While 51 percent is
aspirational, we have agreed that there should be thresholds for each sector so
that we balance between the business interests of investors and the need to
empower and ensure that ordinary Zimbabweans participate in the mainstream
economy.

As a government, we also want
to normalise relations with the international community. There has been
speculation on my position as Prime Minister on the issue of sanctions.

We should not attempt to score
cheap political points over issues that are clear. We agreed in the GPA that we
would all work towards normalisation of relations between Zimbabwe and the rest
of the world.

For the record, I was the first
person to engage Europe and the United States, at the expense of my political
reputation at home and abroad, to convince them that Zimbabwe had turned the
corner since the formation of the inclusive government. I tried to assure them
that we would stick to our own agreement and that the culture of violence and
impunity had long gone.

I was later to find out that I
was wrong and that while we all wanted the sanctions lifted, some did not want
to let go of the culture of violence that had brought these measures in the
first place.

The US and the EU were
sceptical and had concerns over continued human rights abuses and
non-implementation of the GPA.

Suffice to say that while some
of us were working hard to normalise relations, there was a deliberate effort by
some players to ensure that we failed to implement other agreed obligations as
enshrined in the GPA on matters such as the cessation of hate speech, State
sponsored violence, media reforms and the culture of impunity, among
others.

This made it difficult for
those of us who were working towards normalisation of relations. It is difficult
to convince the world that you have turned the corner when others are
perpetuating the same culture of violence in the countryside; the same culture
and behaviour that brought us where we are.

Our own Minister of Tourism,
Hon Walter Mzembi, can testify to the difficulty of convincing a sceptic world
when others are stabbing your effort in the back. In January this year, Hon
Mzembi was in Madrid, Spain, marketing Zimbabwe as a safe tourist destination
when reports were splashed all over the world that thugs had violently invaded a
lakeside resort near Harare.

In short, no section in the GPA
is more important than the other and we must invest the same effort on sanctions
as we invest in other important issues such as media reforms, non-violence and
respect for the rule of law if we are to build a safe environment for business
and investment.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is
common knowledge that our industry is operating below capacity, infrastructure
needs upgrading and energy output levels cannot sustain projected economic
growth. I consider these gaps as opportunities for new investors to
exploit.

I am encouraged
by the scope of discussions to be held during this Conference and look forward
to new business partnerships being created in order to move our economy
forward.

Finally we take pride as a
nation to be able to hold such a prestigious Conference graced by renowned
international guests and current and potential investors.

I declare the conference open
and wish you well in your deliberations.

Politburo
to endorse company seizures

HARARE - The Zanu PF supreme
decision making body, the Politburo, will convene a special meeting on
Wednesday to officially endorse the anti-sanctions campaign which seeks to
seize companies owned by Europeans and Americans.

President
Robert Mugabe is expected to chair the extra-ordinary session which comes at
a time the country is hosting a two-day investment conference involving
prospective European investors.

“We will hold an extra-ordinary session
of the Politburo at the party headquarters to see how best we can respond to
his Excellency’ speech at last week’s rally,” a senior Zanu PF official told
the Daily News.

“The session will give members of the Politburo an
opportunity to assess and respond to the measures that the party wants
implemented in retaliation to the sanctions imposed by the European Union
and the United States.”

The extra-ordinary session comes hard on the
heels of a massive rally in Harare last week at which Mugabe launched the
campaign against sanctions by the US and the EU.

The anti- sanctions
drive has targeted two million signatures in all the 10 provinces to give
the liberation movement the momentum to annex the foreign-owned
firms.

Mugabe was left seething with anger by the EU’s decision to extend
an asset freeze, economic embargo and travel bans against his allies in
February.

The EU extended by another 12 months personal sanctions against
the Zanu PF leader and his colleagues.

It lifted restrictions against
35 people, mainly spouses of the party’s bigwigs in a move which left Mugabe
in a rage.

Both the EU and the US said they imposed sanctions to force
Zanu PF to respect the rule of law, human rights and end political violence
against opponents.

“After the escalation of political violence
related to the elections in 2002, the EU decided to introduce measures
against Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF party as a means to put pressure on those
considered responsible. These measures have been renewed each year since
2002,” the EU said.

“The establishment of a Government of National Unity
in 2009 triggered a re-engagement process between the Government of Zimbabwe
and the EU,” the EU said on Sunday.

Zim Euromoney Conference - no time for mixed messages

By Clifford Chitupa
Mashiri, Political Analyst, London 08/03/11

How Zimbabwe will manage to
lure investors at the Euromoney Conference which opened in Harare Tuesday, a
day after Zanu-Pf youths reportedly seized a South African company’s
project, EasiPark is mind-boggling.

With the country short of US$10
billion for capital quick turn-around, it would be a big wasted opportunity
if the distinguished 300 delegates expected to attend were to be subjected
to mixed messages by their Zimbabwean hosts.

This is not the time to
play cheap partisan politics. Neither is it an occasion for orchestrating
false national unity for the cameras then ‘we are back on each other’s
throat’ once the visitors have gone. There has to be an admission of the
ongoing debate on the format which economic empowerment should take in
Zimbabwe than to mislead the conference with false assurances or scare them
with ‘indigenisation’.

It is also vital to remind ourselves about the
rationale of affirmative action which in the 21st century should be
colour-blind as opposed to ‘indigenisation’ which deliberately discriminates
against non-blacks, thereby creating understandable resentment. The basic
social science view of affirmative action was spelt out by the US President
Johnson when he said:

“Men and women of all races are born with the same
range of abilities. But ability is not just the product of birth. Ability is
stretched or stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighbourhood
you live in – by the school you go to and the poverty or the richness of
your surroundings. It is the product of a hundred unseen forces playing upon
the little infant, the child, and finally the man” (or woman) my own
emphasis (wikipedia.org).

Although empowerment or affirmative action
programmes are by nature very controversial the world over, in Zimbabwe it
is the perceived deliberate attempts by the former ruling party to hijack a
sound national programme for partisan and short-term gain ahead of
elections. Even in South Africa affirmative action has been criticised for
“enriching a minority of ‘black diamonds’ loyal to the governing African
National Congress and driving away white businessmen” (The Guardian.co.uk,
31/07/09).

It remains to be seen how Robert Mugabe of Zanu-pf will lead
the push for foreign investment when recently to mark his 87th birthday he
was threatening to take over South African owned mining giant Zimplats
accusing them it of externalising profits.

“Nestle refused to buy
milk from Gushungo dairies,” Mugabe told a crowd of Zanu-pf supporters,
adding, “I told Kasukuwere (Indigenisation Minister) to begin with them and
tell them he was sent by Gushungo. We should deal with them; let them get
out of the country” (Zimbabwe Standard, 26/02/11).

Of course, it is
undeniable that Zimbabwe needs to redress the economic imbalances inherited
at independence 31 years ago. Obviously, it would not be empowerment if
Nestle is nationalised because of a personal grudge with the leader of
Zanu-pf. However, it is how the re-dressing is done which is debatable and
not whether empowerment is necessary at all. The key point of this paper is
doing away withy the race label.

Attempts by some Zimbabwean politicians
to duplicate South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) legislation by
using a score-card or alternatively copying the Bafokeng empowerment model
are likely to run into difficulties because of different scenarios and
possible resistance from within the power elite.

A good observation
by the Financial Gazette (17/02/11) is that ‘the Bafokeng nation first
forged a deal with mining firms in its territory in Rustenburg in which it
was paid mining royalties . The mining royalties were later in the 1990’s
converted into shareholding for the Bafokeng community.’

A variance of
that in Zimbabwe would be for example, for the Chiadzwa community in Marange
communal area to get mining royalties from Mbada, Canadile, ZMDC and the
Chinese joint venture companies which are mining their precious diamond
deposits and eventually convert the royalties into shareholding. While a
very noble proposition, its likely to be a hardsell to some of the players
already involved in Chiadzwa’s diamond mining amidst human rights
abuses.

Another observation worth making is that the BEE programme, while
admittedly potentially a disincentive to investors, could have a greater
chance of success in South Africa than in Zimbabwe without causing serious
damage to the economy. While Pretoria has a strong and highly advanced
industrial base as well as diverse financial resources, the case is not the
same with Harare where some listed companies like Gulliver and Cairns have
halted some of their operations due to adverse trading
conditions.

Zimbabwe, should scrap its current reckless indigenisation
claim of 51% ownership of shares even in a family business or sole trade
worth US$500,000 because the policy is flawed, partisan, racist, open to
abuse and unsustainable. A better alternative to the controversial
indigenisation law would be the use of fiscal and institutional measures to
promote empowerment of disadvantaged youths regardless of race, colour,
ethnicity, gender, disability, political affiliation and so on.

Such
a mechanism would entail building an Empowerment Fund that is managed
transparently by Treasury through a progress empowerment levy e.g. 5% on
profits charged to multi-million dollar corporations in Zimbabwe for a
duration of up to 10 years subject to a nationwide consultation
exercise.

The Fund would be disbursed by Treasury to targeted
disadvantaged youths between 18 and 30 years of age (no old men or women) on
a means test basis as well as production of a bankable business plan with
repayment of capital only and agreeing to a joint venture with a government
mentor until the project shows evidence of being self-sustainable. You don’t
give a trainee air pilot the controls until you feel confident that it’s
safe to do so!

The advantages of the proposed option to indigenisation is
that it is colour blind, transparent, non-partisan, sustainable,
non-discriminatory except on merit, not corrupt or open to abuse like the
current system which is plainly vindictive against an ethnic minority purely
for narrow political reasons. This is the only way to pull the
indigenisation rug from under the feet of prophets of partisan
politics.

Conclusion:

Zimbabwe needs investors more than investors
need Zimbabwe, so there is no point in ‘sabre rattling’. Empowerment of
disadvantaged youths should be colour blind like that done by the Prince’s
Trust in the UK. In order to build Zimbabwe, there is need for
reconciliation, compromise, diplomacy and magnanimity. People want to see a
consistent application of policy regardless of political
persuasion.

Zimbabwe's
Two MDCs Seeking Court Relief From Police Ban on Meetings

Spokesman
Kurauone Chihwayi of the MDC wing led by Welshman Ncube said the officer in
charge of Bulawayo province told his party should not hold any rallies as
this was likely to lead to violence

Patience Rusere & Sithandekile
Mhlanga | Washington 07 March 2011

Both main formations of
Zimbabwe's former opposition Movement for Democratic Change are seeking
relief in the country's High Court citing a pattern of interference by local
police blocking their political meetings and rallies in a pre-electoral
environment.

Tabitha Khumalo, a spokeswoman for the MDC formation of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said her party submitted a brief to
Bulawayo High Court today.

Spokesman Kurauone Chihwayi of the MDC
wing led by Welshman Ncube said the party will also submit papers to the
High Court this week.

Chihwayi said the Ncube MDC meantime will go ahead
with a rally in the Makokoba section of Bulawayo set for Saturday, saying it
is the party’s right.

VOA was unable to obtain comment from the
Zimbabwe Republic Police.

But Chihwayi said his party received a letter
yesterday from the officer in charge of Bulawayo province, Steve Mutamba,
saying the formation should not hold any rallies as this was likely to lead
to violence.

Meetings called by the Tsvangirai MDC in Bulawayo and other
locations including Kadoma, Mashonaland West province, were similarly barred
by the police.

Police have also stopped the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions from holding a march to commemorate International Womens Day on
Tuesday.

Tsvangirai MDC spokeswoman Tabitha Khumalo told VOA Studio 7
reporter Patience Rusere that Section 25 of the Public Order and Security
Act says police clearance is required for public gatherings, not private
party meetings in offices.

Ncube MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told
Sithandekile Mhlanga that Saturday’s rally will go ahead as planned. He said
the law merely requires police be notified.

MDC
accused of not doing more to end political violence

The MDC has been accused of not doing more as part of the
unity government, to end political violence and seek justice for violence
victims in Zimbabwe.

In a report by Human Rights Watch, ‘Perpetual Fear:
Impunity and Cycles of Violence in Zimbabwe’, the MDC is accused of
“prioritising” the survival of the unity government, above all
else.

“The MDC has not forcefully insisted on justice and accountability
for human rights abuses, nor has it attempted to bring the perpetrators of
those abuses to book,” the report reads.

The report’s author, senior
Human Rights Watch researcher Tiseke Kasambala, told SW Radio Africa’s
Diaspora Diaries programme that the MDC clearly are not equal partners in
the unity government. But she said it was “disappointing that they appear to
have swept issues of retributive justice under the rug.”

Kasambala’s
reports details the stories of many victims of the 2008 political violence
who are still waiting for some form of justice, with no sign of any
investigation into the brutal killings and torture of MDC supporters. Many
of these victims have been left physically and emotionally damaged, with
some living in South Africa, choosing poverty there over life in Zimbabwe.
Kasambala explained how one of the victims, whose parents were murdered by
known ZANU PF thugs during the 2008 election period, described living in
“perpetual fear because the perpetrators of the violence and murder live
next door and are walking free.”

“The power-sharing government should
take the lead in ending abuses and impunity by putting in place mechanisms
to ensure that those who have committed abuses in the past and those who
continue to do so, are held to account for their crimes,” Kasambala
said.

She added that if the impunity is allowed to continue “we will
likely see a repeat of this level of violence in future
elections.”

Mutambara
undermining the judiciary

THAT Arthur Mutambara is a dangerous element to our democracy is
no longer an assumption but a statement of fact backed by evidence of his
nefarious deeds of violating the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and
undermining the judiciary.

His deliberate undermining of the
judiciary and the people of Zimbabwe makes him a very dishonest politician
who cannot be trusted to be in the leadership of any public office in this
country. It has emerged that he is a power hungry man who would not stop at
anything to safeguard personal interests -- even if it is against the
national interest.

Mutambara, who came into the political fray as a
champion of democracy and rule of law, has proven beyond anyone’s doubt that
he is a dangerous element to our nascent democracy and should be checked
before he becomes a cancer.

In the interest of public debate, it is
important to highlight some of the major dangerous political activities of
Mutambara that show that he undermines both the judiciary and the people of
Zimbabwe.

The first major issue that Mutambara dangerously plays around
with is the issue of ‘principal’ in the Global Political Agreement. The
arguments by Mutambara, cooked up by Lovemore Madhuku, are meant to mislead
the nation, create confusion and disrupt the smooth operations of the
government. The arguments forwarded are that Mutambara is principal by
virtue of being a signatory of the GPA and also by being Deputy Prime
Minister (DPM) of the Republic.

While I will not spend much time in
the second argument, I will dedicate some space to deal with the first
argument. The position of DPM does not make one a principal, that is a
government position which is why Thokozani Khupe is DPM but not a
principal.

The argument that Mutambara is a principal by virtue of being
a signatory to the GPA falls flat because it presupposes that he signed the
GPA in his personal capacity, yet he signed on behalf of the MDC. This is a
vacuous argument that is deliberately designed to confuse the nation and
should not be allowed to go unchallenged.

The truth of the matter
that both Mutambara and Madhuku know is that the GPA was signed by the three
party presidents in their representative capacities. Robert Mugabe signed
representing Zanu PF, Morgan Tsvangirai signed representing the MDC-T and
Arthur Mutambara signed representing the MDC, witnessed by the SADC
facilitator Thabo Mbeki. So, clearly, the three signed representing their
parties not some substructure that Mutambara and Madhuku are
imagining.

Just for the record, Article 1 section one of the GPA makes
the following pronouncements: “The agreement shall mean this written
agreement signed by the representatives of Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations”. It further goes on to pronounce that the “parties referred to
shall mean Zanu PF and the two MDC formations led by Arthur Mutambara and
Morgan Tsvangirai respectively”. So Mutambara and Madhuku cannot suddenly
pretend that there is a GPA principal who is not a leader of a political
party.

The other confusion peddled by Mutambara and Madhuku is that there
is a legal term called ‘principal’ in the GPA. For those who have gone
through the whole GPA, they will tell you that there is nowhere in the GPA
where it mentions the term principal. This just refers to leaders of the
political parties represented in government. The term principal, from what I
know, was coined by the negotiators in collective reference to their leaders
and the media ran to town with it. It then became a common name in reference
to Mugabe, Mutambara and Tsvangirai in their threesome.

The correct
legal position, therefore, as enunciated in amendment 19 of the constitution
of the country is that the three party presidents signed the GPA in their
representative capacities and not as individuals. Simply put, the GPA was
signed by the three parties that were represented in the hung 7th parliament
of Zimbabwe.

The above position is well known not only by Mutambara but
also by President Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, yet in clear
violation of the GPA and undermining of the judiciary, the two invited and
allowed Mutambara to attend a meeting of principals (presidents of parties
represented in government). They did this despite the full knowledge that
the High Court of Zimbabwe had granted the MDC a provisional order
interdicting Mutambara to stop masquerading as the MDC president, and
therefore principal of the same.

Commenting on Mutambara’s attendance of
the meeting, Madhuku, who is the Herald’s most trusted legal expert on this
matter alone, blatantly tries to confuse the nation by making ridiculous
claims that he had a right to attend the meeting as GPA principal and not as
MDC president. Such abuse of the public media by a self-proclaimed human
rights activist is a serious embarrassment.

While many Zimbabweans
have known that Madhuku’s understanding of the law is very skewed since he
is not a practicing lawyer due to known reasons, very few ever imagined that
he would stoop so low as to try and confuse the nation on an issue that is
in black and white. The act of attending the meeting of principals is a
clear contempt of the High Court ruling and a clear sign of undermining of
the judiciary. This is particularity sad coming from someone who has always
claimed to be champion of democracy and human rights.

Mutambara
raises some absurd claims that the court is infringing on the concept of
separation of powers because the judiciary pronouncement is bound to disrupt
the operation of the executive arm of government. This pronouncement, which
is also deliberately planted to create confusion in the country, is a total
falsehood. The truth of the matter is that the court issued an interdict
restraining Mutambara from masquerading as party president, it did not make
any mention of his work as DPM. So where is the interference?

Madhuku
should stop misleading the robotics professor. While they can be forgiven
for their wrong interpretation of the law on this one, they cannot be
forgiven for undermining the judiciary by claiming that the MDC filed their
court application in the Bulawayo High Court because it was “forum
shopping”. Forum shopping refers to looking for someone who sympathises with
you.

So for Mutambara, the judges in Bulawayo did not make a judgment
based on points of law and the facts presented but on the basis of sympathy
and favour. This is a very dangerous assault on the judiciary by a member of
the executive in that it is loaded with strong undercurrents that do not
only border on insinuating that the judges in Bulawayo are corrupt but has a
dangerous insinuation that the judges are sympathetic to Welshman Ncube
because they share with him a particular language and culture. I hope this
was not the meaning of his claim of “forum shopping”. I challenge him to
come out and explain to the nation what he meant about this.

In the
absence of a meaningful explanation, for me the statement is in contempt of
the courts. It is strange that a whole professor with hairy armpits clinging
to the position of DPM by ginya does no appreciate that Zimbabweans are
allowed to file their High Court applications in any part of the country
because the High Court is a national institution. The jurisdiction of the
High Court is national, and even Madhuku knows this.

Mutambara, in his
trance of political desperation, should not undermine the state institutions
when he took an oath to serve the country in honour. The attempts to
undermine the judiciary are totally unacceptable and his political
desperation should not be used to undermine the judiciary and creating
confusion in the country. He should just accept that the end game has come
and accept that he has no moral fibre to make any claims of being a
principal.Qhubani Moyo is the national organizing secretary of the MDC.
He can be contacted on qmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk

DAS Page Press Conference in Harare, March 4th 2011

TRANSCRIPT of media briefing by
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Susan D Page (DAS PAGE) at PAS Harare
offices, on Friday, March 4, 2011, 2:15 pm. DAS Page was at the end of her four
day business visit to Zimbabwe where she met with various government officials,
civil society representatives, and business.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:

AMBASSADOR CHARLES A.
RAY:
Ladies and gentlemen, help me welcome Susan D. Page, Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State in the United States State Department. She is responsible for all our
embassies in central and southern Africa. She is probably well known to many of
you as she has been to Zimbabwe a number of times since the mid 1990s, or
probably early 1990s. She is here with us this week on a routine visit to one of
the embassies for which she has responsibility back in Washington. From here she
is going to Mozambique to do much the same. I will let her give you the details
of her visit. I will leave the floor and hand over to Ms. Susan D. Page.

DAS SUSAN D.
PAGE: Thank you very much
for welcoming me to the U.S. Mission to Zimbabwe. I have a prepared statement
that I would like to read first, of which copies will be made available
immediately thereafter, and then I will take questions.

(Begin statement) My
visit to Zimbabwe this week highlighted a country buoyed by massive opportunity
yet gripped with uncertainty. The United States remains committed to working
with the people of Zimbabwe to achieve our common goal of seeing a more stable
and prosperous Zimbabwe.

The United States is
concerned by the increase in political violence, wanton intimidation of the
public and partisan arrests and prosecutions that have occurred recently. It is
clear that these actions are being perpetrated by individuals and segments of
the state security apparatus affiliated with elements within ZANU-PF. Having
said that, we applaud President Mugabe’s clear statement on February 26 that
violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We hope that President
Mugabe, as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces, also
conveys that message to the police and security services. The credibility of
that statement, however, ultimately will be reflected in how it is honored. The
United States believes that ZANU-PF will be a part of Zimbabwe’s future. In
order to play a constructive role, ZANU-PF must reject the use of violence and
fear in its operations. Similarly, we recognize that not everyone within the
Zimbabwe Republic Police and armed forces supports or is engaged in violence.
The United States applauds those patriots serving their fellow citizens and
their country by maintaining law, order, and stability. I urge these security
service members to stand up to the partisan few among them who are intent on
abusing their positions, and their fellow citizens, for personal gain. Service
to extremists within one party is not service to the
nation.

The United States
supports a transformation of Zimbabwe to democracy and a return to prosperity.
We applaud the commitment of the three parties to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) to develop and adopt a new constitution before holding elections. We
support the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) lead in developing a
roadmap for credible elections to be held in Zimbabwe. However, it is up to the
people of Zimbabwe to reach consensus on when those elections should be held.
The United States stands prepared to assist the Zimbabwean people to enhance the
strength and capacity of their electoral institutions and civil society
organizations to help ensure that the next elections, when they are called, are
credible, free of violence, and represent the will of the Zimbabwean people.
While those parties in government progress along the roadmap to democratic
elections, they must honor their commitments and obligations under the GPA,
their responsibilities in government, and their commitment to deliver services
to the people.

It is clear from my
many meetings and discussions with a wide array of Zimbabweans both here and in
Bulawayo, that Zimbabwe’s economy has significant opportunities for growth and
employment. We have seen a notable increase in American and international
business interest in the country’s newly-revived economy and the U.S. Embassy
here has increased significantly its outreach to the American private sector to
draw attention to local opportunities. At the same time, foreign companies will
not expose themselves to investment risks here in Zimbabwe until a clear and
consistent set of ground rules governing the protection of private property, the
sanctity of contracts, and unbiased enforcement of the law are in place. True
empowerment comes when a vibrant economy provides jobs, opportunities, food for
peoples’ families, and hope for the future.

A rising tide lifts
all boats. We see that this is happening now in Zimbabwe but only to a limited
degree. Substantial growth and development is waiting for the stability and
security that will come once the rule of law is enforced, core business
principles are respected, corruption is diminished, and all people are able to
freely express themselves in a peaceful manner. Currently, a small band of
detractors focused on personal profiteering at the expense of others is holding
the entire country down. The Zimbabwean people deserve better and the American
people are eager to partner with you for the empowerment of all Zimbabweans.
Thank you. (END STATEMENT)

(PAO interjects to
begin moderating questions)

QUESTION: We understand that
you meant to pay a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development. Did the meeting, ah, did you fail to meet the
minister?

DAS
PAGE: I did pay a courtesy
visit on the Ministry of Mines, and I met with the Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Mines and his team. It was a very cordial meeting, discussing events
around the Kimberly Process, and, of course, the status of where things are with
respect to the Marange diamond fields. Nothing extraordinary except to say that
it was important that I touch base with the various ministries and government
officials, private sector, civil society, political parties, basically
Zimbabweans from all walks of life so that I can gather a real sense from people
on the ground for an important country that I cover. The ministry of mines was
no exception.

QUESTION: How much is the wave
of protests in North Africa a concern to Washington, and what do you think is
the problem and the solution?

DAS
PAGE: Thank you. I think
that with respect to Zimbabwe, I’m not so sure that the waves of protests in
North Africa are playing that much of a dramatic role or effect here in
Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean people have a very rich and long history of peaceful
protest and trying to go to the ballot box to remove or change their government
to express their views. They have functioning institutions that obviously have
diminished with time but can still play a very robust role here. So the concern
that we have in Washington about what is happening is related to those countries
and the effect it will have worldwide. I think what it shows the world, and not
just the United States, is that, as President Obama said in his speech in Accra,
Ghana last year, what it does demonstrate is the strength that is needed from
institutions and not from strong individuals. So that, I think is the lesson
that we need to pay particular attention to -- the institutions -- that can be
the judiciary, the executive branch, the legislative branch, electoral
institutions, civil society playing a role in that, human rights organizations
or commissions. Those are the elements that can help foster or strengthen
democratic regimes in the world. (Watch
Video)

QUESTION: From your statement
you expressed concern over the increased cases of political violence and, if I
heard you very well, you cited security agents as perpetrators of such violence.
Yesterday, we had Commissioner General of police giving oral evidence before
Parliament and from his figures, 101 cases of reported cases of political
violence was perpetuated by the MDC, while ZANU-PF had 20 cases of political
violence. How do you substantiate your statement?

DAS
PAGE: Well, I would just
say that we heard that report. It is not up to us to substantiate the statements
or the cases, but we certainly hope that all parties will play a role in ending
violence and making sure that whether violence is perpetrated by one side or
another side or is reacted to will result in a decline in violence. As I read in
my statement, we are encouraged by, we are happy to learn of the President’s
statement of February 26th to ‘decline the use of violence’ and we hope that
will be in fact be appropriately stated and enforced to the agents of security
or security apparatus. As I mentioned, it is not everyone in the country who is
a security service member, police member, or member of the CIO (Central
Intelligence Organization) etc. who are engaged in violence. There are groups of
people who are, and we encourage the investigation into those incidents and
respect for the rule of law.

QUESTION: What are your
chances of becoming the deputy chair of the KPCS?

DAS
PAGE: The Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme, or the KP in shorthand, is a consensual based mechanism.
Our objective is not so much to become deputy chair or vice chair of the
Kimberly Process Certification Scheme but rather to try and make sure that the
Kimberly Process works as it should, and that all members of the Kimberly
Process are able to follow the rules that are enshrined in the Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme so that they can export their raw diamonds for the benefit
of their people. (Watch
Video)

QUESTION: I would divert you a
bit to the issue of sanctions. What do you say to the anti- sanctions campaign
drive which has kicked off now? Are you likely to negotiate with fellow
Americans to remove sanctions or do you still think there isn’t much that has
been done to warrant the removal of sanctions?

DAS
PAGE: Yes, we believe
that. Let me just speak first about the rally, we think that is a perfectly
legitimate use of the right to political expression, freedom of expression and
freedom to gather. We would encourage and hope that that right will be permitted
for all Zimbabwean citizens -- to gather and express their views. That has not
been the case in many instances. In the United States, and in many countries
around the world, people get together, they have petitions, they have drives to
express their views. That is perfectly legitimate. Again, we would just hope
that it would be available to all people to be able to use, to have that ability
and that freedom that’s in fact, enshrined in the international covenant on
civil and political rights, a UN document that the government, the republic of
Zimbabwe has acceded to. So we would hope that that would be allowed and
permitted for all people.

In terms of the
actual sanctions themselves, we do believe that the sanctions play a vital role
in helping to encourage the government and all parties in it to participate in
democratic transformation here. And we believe that is necessary to keep until
we see that the perpetrators of violence, those who are refusing to allow
democracy to thrive will in fact be punished.

Let me just say that
the sanctions list has less than 120 Zimbabweans on it. That means they cannot
travel to the United States and access bank accounts that they have in the
United States. We believe it is important for them not to have access to
ill-gotten gains that they have received that do not benefit the people of
Zimbabwe, so until that changes we will be keeping our sanctions on. (Watch
Video)

QUESTION: You said that the
United States believes that ZANU-PF is central to Zimbabwe. Speaking about
sanctions, they have not had the kind of effect that the United States hopes
they will have. And now you are saying that ZANU-PF is central to the United
States. Does that mean that you are going to be negotiating, are you going to
compromise?

DAS
PAGE: Well, first of all,
I think you misconstrued or misheard what I said. I believe that ZANU-PF will be
a central part in Zimbabwe’s future; I think that is just reality. And what I
also said was that in order to be a strong relevant player, they need to change
their tactics and not use violence, not use fear and intimidation in order to
achieve their objectives. In terms of sanctions, as I just mentioned, I did not
say they are not effective, or that they were not achieving the objective that
we set. Again we have targeted very specific and limited number of people that
we believe have hindered the progress of Zimbabwe. We do believe sanctions are
still an effective tool, and so we will not be negotiating with anyone. We will
use our foreign policy tools, which is only but one of the foreign policy tools
that we have, just like my visit here. We have a full ambassador here; we have a
full embassy; we have various agencies that are working under the authority of
the chief of mission, the Ambassador. Zimbabwe also has a full diplomatic
mission and ambassador in the United States in Washington and in New York. These
are all part of the toolkits that we use as part of our diplomacy. (Watch
Video)

QUESTION: Yes, back to the
Kimberly Process, the U.S. has raised concern in the past over alleged human
rights abuses in Marange. Do you think Zimbabwe has done enough to improve and
meet the Kimberly Process standards to warrant resumption of trade in
diamonds?

DAS
PAGE: I don’t know. I
think that is up to the Zimbabwean people, and the ministry and the arrangements
that they have with the companies to make sure that the violence goes down and
that the minimum standards of the Kimberly Process, not just in terms of those
mining companies, are met. And that’s not just for the United States, that’s for
the benefit of the process to which they have signed up to, and to benefit all
partners in the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

QUESTION: Do you think SADC,
as guarantors of the Global Political Agreement, are doing enough to ensure its
full implementation? Because we have always had complaints that they are not
doing enough.

DAS
PAGE: Well, the reality is
that at the end of the day, no one can force anyone to do something that they do
not want to do. As guarantors, they are hoping to make progress; they have
committed to developing an electoral roadmap. They, I know, were here, just a
week ago or so, discussing again with the principals. So I hope that they will
continue to play that vital role of holding the parties accountable to what they
signed up to. But ultimately, any political agreement is subject to the will of
those people who signed it. And so we encourage the three partners and their
political parties to abide by their commitments under the Global Political
Agreement and be able to hold elections under a new constitution and move
forward getting Zimbabwe back on the path to democracy and governance, freedom
of press, and freedom of speech. There are a number of things that are in the
Global Political Agreement that lay that out. Hopefully, these things will be
enshrined in the new constitution that will go through the referendum process
and, if it is acceptable to the Zimbabwean people, then they will go forward
with elections under that. I think that the region is important. Zimbabwe is not
alone; it is a member of SADC and a strong member of the region. We all would
all like to see it prosperous again.

QUESTION: Are there any plans
as the U.S. government to assist media freedom in Zimbabwe and freedom of
expression particularly for ordinary Zimbabweans?

DAS
PAGE: We do. We have, let
me just speak a little bit about the kind of assistance that we have been giving
to Zimbabwe over the course of the Global Political Agreement that has been in
place in the last two years. In 2009, we provided over US$300 million to support
Zimbabwean efforts at recovery- humanitarian relief, HIV and AIDS, agriculture,
text books, education -- so we have a vast program. We have just increased our
funding for HIV and AIDS. We have through USAID, through organizations that are
working with them, NGOS, civil society organizations that are working to
strengthen the media commission that has been set up. We would like to see the
media commission really robust and operating fully, with newspapers being able
to open, for journalists to be able to gather at places like this, and to be
able to report accurately and professionally on what’s happening. That’s not
just in the print media, but also on the airwaves and elsewhere. We are not
seeing a lot of that yet, but we are hoping in our support for communications
that will be part of our support.

Let me just say in
closing, I have had a wonderful trip here to Zimbabwe. I have been coming to
Zimbabwe since 1994, and it is always a pleasure to be back. The Zimbabwean
people are warm and generous and graceful, and it has been a pleasure. I have
received excellent support from the U.S. mission. I would want to especially
thank the Ambassador, the Public Affairs Office, and all of the sections that
have made my trip so wonderful. But mostly of course, it’s a trip committed to
the Zimbabwean people. Thank you all very much for welcoming me.

END
TRANSCRIPT

Issued by the U.S.
Embassy Public Affairs Section. Send inquiries to Sharon
Hudson-Dean

Thugtatorship

In a recent edition of Pambazuka news,
Alemayehu G. Mariam introduces Africa’s leading ‘thugtators’ – those leaders who
cling to power ‘solely to accumulate personal wealth for the ruling
class’.

If democracy is government of the people, by the
people and for the people, a thugogracy is a government of thieves, for thieves,
by thieves. Simply stated, a thugtatorship is rule by a gang of thieves and
robbers (thugs) in designer suits. It is becoming crystal clear that much of
Africa today is a thugogracy privately managed and operated for the exclusive
benefit of bloodthirsty thugtators.

In a thugtatorship, the purpose of seizing and
clinging to political power is solely to accumulate personal wealth for the
ruling class by stealing public funds and depriving the broader population of
scarce resources necessary for basic survival.

In March 2008, Robert Mugabe declared victory in
the presidential election after waging a campaign of violence and intimidation
on his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters. In 2003, Mugabe boasted, ‘I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has
only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people,
recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their
resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is
what we stand for.’ No one would disagree with Mugabe’s self-description. In
2010, Mugabe announced his plan to sell ‘about $1.7
billion of diamonds in storage’. According to a Wikileaks cablegram, ‘a small group of high-ranking Zimbabwean officials
(including Grace Mugabe) have been extracting tremendous diamond profits.’
Mugabe is so greedy that he stole outright ‘£4.5 million from [aid] funds meant to help
millions of seriously ill people.’

The story of corruption, theft, embezzlement and
brazen transfer of the national wealth of African peoples to European and
African banks and corporate institutions is repeated elsewhere in the continent.
Ex-Nigerian President Sani Abacha, who was judicially determined to be a member
of a criminal organisation by a Swiss court, stole $500 million. Ben Ali of Tunisia
and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt also have their stolen assets in the hundreds of
millions of dollars frozen in Switzerland and elsewhere. Other African thugtators
who have robbed their people (and pretty much gotten away with it) include
Nigeria’s Ibrahim Babangida, Guniea’s Lansana Conte, Togo’s Gnassingbe Eyadema,
Gabon’s Omar Bongo, Equatorial Guniea’s Obiang Nguema, Burkina Faso’s Blaise
Campore and Congo’s (Brazaville) Denis Sassou Nguesso, among others.

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF
THUGTATORSHIPS

Thugtatorships in Africa thrive in the political
economy of kleptocracy. Widespread corruption permeates every corner of society.
Oil revenues, diamonds, gold bars, coffee and other commodities and foreign aid
are stolen outright and pocketed by the thugtators and their army of thugocrats.
Public funds are embezzled and misused and state property misappropriated and
converted to private use. Publicly-owned assets are virtually given away to
supporters in ‘privatisation programs’ or secretly held in illegal transactions.
Bank loans are given out to front enterprises owned secretly by the thugtators
or their supporters without sufficient or proper collateral.

Businessmen must pay huge bribes or kickbacks to
participate in public contracting and procurement. Those involved in the
import/export business are victimised in shakedowns by thugocrats. The judiciary
is thoroughly corrupted through political interference and
manipulation.

One of the common tricks used by thugtators to
cling to power is to terrorise the people with warnings of an impending
Armageddon. They say that if they are removed from power, even after 42 years,
the sky will fall and the earth will open up and swallow the people. Thugtators
sow fear, uncertainty and doubt in the population and use misinformation and
disinformation to psychologically defeat, disorient and neutralise the
people.

Africa’s thugtatorships have longstanding and
profitable partnerships with the West. Through aid and trade, the West has
enabled these thugocracies to flourish in Africa and repress Africans. To cover
up their hypocrisy and hoodwink the people, the West is now lined up to ‘freeze’
the assets of the thugtators. It is a drama they have perfected since the early
days of African independence. The fact of the matter is that the West is
interested only in ‘stability’ in Africa. That simply means, in any African
country, they want a ‘guy they can do business
with‘. The business they want to do in
Africa is the oil business, the (blood) diamond business, the arms sales
business, the coffee and cocoa export business, the tourism business, the luxury
goods export business and the war on terrorism business. They are not interested
in the African peoples’ business, the human rights business, the rule of law
business, the accountability and transparency business and the fair and free
elections business.

Today, the West is witnessing a special kind of
revolution it has never seen: a youth-led popular nonviolent revolution against
thugtatorships in Africa and the Middle East. Neither the West nor the
thugtators know what to do with this kind of revolution or the revolutionaries
leading it. President Obama said, ‘History will end up recording that at every
juncture in the situation in Egypt, that we were on the right side of history.’
Well, what is good for Egypt is good enough for Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia, the
Sudan, Algeria, Kenya, Bahrain, Djbouti, Somalia and Zimbabwe. The decisive
question in world history today is: are we on the right side of history with the
victims of oppression or are we on the wrong side with thugtators destined to
the dustbin of history?

Power to youths in Africa and the Middle
East!

This entry was
posted on March 8th, 2011 at 11:49 am by Upenyu Makoni-Muchemwa